Are we ignorant or too trusting?

The story of a controversial young woman who swindled various business people claiming to be the daughter of Assistant Minister of Local Government, Botlogile Tshireletso, was the talk of the town last week.

Voice cartoonist, Lesole Ntshole, caught up in a conversation about the young woman last Friday in a combi while commuting from BBS Mall to the bus rank.

SHORT-HAIRED LADY: The young woman who is said to have slept in hotels, and lodges claiming to be MmaTshireletso’s daughter shocked me.

It left me wondering whether as Batswana, we are ignorant, or just a trusting nation?

LADY IN BLACK SKIRT:I’ve been asking myself that same question. How does someone walk in a hardware store, fleeces the owner of P1000, and then does the same thing swindling a wholesale of P5000?

SHORT-HAIRED LADY: They said the young lady looked like MmaTshireletso, and the business owners believed her story when she told them she was her daughter.

MAN IN BLUE JACKET:That’s not an excuse. Some people do look similar. Why didn’t they bother to ask her to produce the National Identity Card?

DRIVER: Sometimes it’s not about an issue of ignorance, or trust. As human beings, we seem threatened, especially when big names are mentioned.

LADY IN BLACK SKIRT: I agree with you, more especially when the business owners are foreigners.

They might have been scared that, had they not assisted the minister’s daughter, they’d have their businesses closed down by the government, and deported back to their countries.

MAN IN BLUE JACKET: It’s difficult to notice when a person cons you. Sometimes you realise long after they’re long gone.

DRIVER: It reminds me of this other guy and his friend that once stole a government vehicle. They drove to a rural area where they claimed to be from the Labour department and hiring people.

They then started collecting some money, claiming that those that pay higher amount would get jobs as supervisors. (Laughter).

The conversation ends as some passengers disembark, while others board on the combi at a stop opposite Princess Marina Hospital.